I'm not really a fan of boxing, but I don't think that should exclude me from being a gamer of a realistic boxing game. Because I'm not a fan there are a lot of things .... issues .... that I'm not going to catch in a boxing game. One thing I did notice in the Fight Night series was how little impact stamina had. Was stamina even a part of the game? I always felt that strategy wasn't really a part of that series. It always seemed to me that you were supposed to just go in with a flurry of punches and get the TKO, and that's that. Not good. Where was all the training of the fighter, the (realistic) advice from the manager ring-side, the obvious heavy-breathing from non-stop throwing of punches? You guys are right. Someone, SOMEONE (unfortunately I'm not qualified), should be able to create a realistic boxing series. I don't care if the graphics are 1999, or if we have to click-click-click just to do anything in the menus.

as far as FNC, i had it on PS3. i think i downloaded exactly 1 patch and updated exactly 1 tuner. but then when subsequent patches came out, i read reviews that it created more problems. so after that i never took the game online again because i somehow had really good gameplay. for FNC, it is also very important to edit the sliders, i think lowering punch accuracy and a few others to try to lower punches per round a bit. also i specifically edited Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins ratings and styles. i made Roy Jones a little bit faster and changed his blocking style from what it was assigned to the upright style, and i managed to have some great fights between the two. the way i had it it was a fun game, but you really have to take advantage of the settings available in the game to get great matches vs the CPU.

as far as boxing games, there are still things not really implemented in the game. first of all, the camera angles. although FNC had sort of a broadcast style camera, the zoom wasn't right compared to the regular side view. the broadcast view was not suited to the player movement as well. that view needs to look like a real broadcast, and some zoom, height options might be helpful too. the game looked and controlled better from the side view in FNC, with moving your boxer left and right with up or down on the left analog stick. that's the Fight Night style, but ideally, a boxing game should have a broadcast camera that looks right and controls good with a camera-relative control system. Victorious Spirits on the PSP is an example of having this camera view (with auto zooming) and it actually working with the control scheme. (unlike FNC)

Another thing for a boxing game is clinching and referee interaction. we just haven't seen anything close to a real referee yet. FNC was the first fight night to actually have a referee!! but in FNC, he doesn't do anything. he doesn't get in there and break up clinches and separate the fighters, they just break automatically after a while. it's more then just the animations too. you should have the choice between multiple referees in a realistic boxing game. you should be able to choose to have a Joe Cortez style referee, who works up a sweat breaking anything close to a clinch (like Mayweather Hatton) or another type of referee, like the one in Guerrero Berto, that lets the fighters work out of a clinch. you could basically be able to choose whether a ref is lenient or strict. you should also be able to do rabbit punches in the clinch, and maybe even unintentional low blows. (where you aim for the body but the guy charges you and you hit him low by accident) the referees should show emotion and be part of the match. FNC actually did have a decent clinching mechanic. you could clinch below the shoulder, from a leaning position, etc. it was an improvement, but you still couldn't do anything when you were in the clinch. you know in KO Kings 2000 on PS1, you could actually throw punches in the clinch, and push the guy off. One thing FNC did really well was the blocking was very good, especially along the ropes. with enough speed and blocking skills, you could actually lie on the ropes, and block and feint around, and actually score on the ropes. that was one of the best things about FNC actually.

Fight Night looked great, and I loved that we could share boxers, but the game was broken. Career mode would freeze and the patches made it worse. I would love a generic game as long as we could do some major editing.

I used to think that realism meant boring with gaming, but then I started realizing I'm putting out $60.00 on a game, and then being able to hit free throws from full court, throwing 8 touchdown passes in one half and throwing 200 punches a round became boring.

If the detail is there, the game can be an extremely exciting play. There is a reason these sports generate support. The sport itself is exciting. Yes, the "action" moments boost the excitement, but the sport alone, with all its statistic keeping, parity and skill make people come back.

I think I'm living proof of how realism can be fun for guys who don't know much about the sport.
I've never played basketball, nor do I really watch it. Yet, I purchased 2k12 based on the strong reviews.
I loved that game. It was tough, and I sucked at it, but I was forced to learn strategies and play like a real game.
In Live I could go end to end, but not in 2K. And I enjoyed the heck out of it.

I still think there's room in a game to have multiple settings for people that just want to spam punches without penalty and those who want a realistic game.
And online, you could even have different servers/rooms based on those preferences as well.
I wouldn't think it could be that tough.

A good balance will get both crowds which is always the tricky part of it .. how do you make a respectable boxing game that pleases most?

Personally Sim should always be first on the to do list .. if its not anywhere like the real thing then im not interested.

and if EA actually takes a another swing at this then i hope they'll balance out the edges you have btwn the controls. buttons vs. sticks. im starting to hate that i lose same way which is the A B combos in late rds (hook, hook,). not that i dont see it coming but guys are literally leaning on small exploited advantages that have nothing to do with boxing. (leaves soap box)

I think I'm living proof of how realism can be fun for guys who don't know much about the sport.
I've never played basketball, nor do I really watch it. Yet, I purchased 2k12 based on the strong reviews.
I loved that game. It was tough, and I sucked at it, but I was forced to learn strategies and play like a real game.
In Live I could go end to end, but not in 2K. And I enjoyed the heck out of it.

I still think there's room in a game to have multiple settings for people that just want to spam punches without penalty and those who want a realistic game.
And online, you could even have different servers/rooms based on those preferences as well.
I wouldn't think it could be that tough.

That's what I never understood. Just have two different settings, similar to how NBA 2K has a casual and sim set of sliders.

Hell have different rooms for each and different titles and everything.